Rotary power-reversing mechanism



Nov. 19, 1935. J. B. PICARD ET AL ROTARY POWER REVERSING MECHANISM Filed March 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l E WH INVENTOR9 W RSW 1935. J. B. PICARD ET AL ROTARY POWER REVERSING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 17, 1954 1935- J. B. PICARD ET AL ROTARY POWER REVERSING MECHANISM Filed March 1'7, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 J. B. PICARD El AL Filed March 17, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Mfr WSW 7zdz INVENTOR Nov. 19, 1935.

ROTARY POWER REVERSING MECHANISM NOV. 19, 1935. B PlcARD ET AL 2,021,134

ROTARY POWER REVERSING MECHANISM Filed March 17, 1934 5 SheetsSheet 5 MUN NN Patented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Springfield, Ohio, assignors to The National- Superior Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application March 17,

9 Claims.

This invention relates generally to reversing mechanism for transmitting rotary power in either direction and more particularly to a unitary reversing mechanism which may be interposed between the source and the application of the power transmitted.

The invention may be conveniently applied, for example, to countershaft reversing mechanism adapted for quickly and smoothly changing the direction of the applied motion without interrupting the motion at the source of power.

As herein illustrated this invention is shown applied to a reversing counter-shaft mechanism for use with apparatus in the process of producing oil from wells.

Hoisting reels or drums are employed intermittently for relatively short intervals from the commencing of the drilling of a well until the well is producing or .abandoned. The hoisting reels are generally driven by any suitable source of power through power transmitting means and it is necessary that these reels be reversed Without reversing the direction of rotation of the power-driving.

source. However, the use of rotary power, capable of function in either direction, is not in any manner restricted to hoisting mechanism during the process of producing oil from the earth.

The reversing mechanism, as herein illustrated, is required to perform heavy duty service in reversing the direction of rotation of the mechanism under heavy loads at high speeds. In order to avoid casualities in the work as well as among the workers reversing mechanism must operate quickly and smoothly and without loss of time. Time is of the essence of some of the operations in performing this type of work as the operation may be lost and have to be repeated because its sequence was broken in time.

ing mechanism is that it may be adaptable for use Another requirement of a counter-shaft revers- To these ends this invention provides novel 1934, Serial No. 716,130

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing one form employing the novel features of this invention.

Fig. 2 is an end View of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1 part of which is in section showing some of the detailed parts comprising this invention and parts of which are broken away.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the base of the mechanism with the lever and link system for operating the forward and reversing means of the mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a detailed view partly in section of one form of the forward drive clutch mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view showing a modification in the shaft assembly of the reversing mechanism, parts being omitted or broken away.

Fig. '7 is a sectional plan view showing the reversing mechanism directly coupled with a power source, parts being omitted or broken away. Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, 10 represents the base or frame structure havingsecured on its ends the upright bearing stands I l for supporting the main bearing housings l2 which may be fastened thereto as by the bolts l3. within the bearing housings l2 and retained from rotation by means of the set screws l 5.

The ends of the shaft are provided with the cap plates l6 which are held in place by means of the cap screws ll extending through the center of the cap plates and entering the tapped holes in the center of the ends of the shaft. The inner peripheral surface of the cap plates engage the outer edge of the cylindrical bearing sleeves l8 preventing any outward movement thereof. The bearing sleeves l 8 are provided with alined clearance holes for admitting the set screw 15.

The inner edge of the bearing sleeves l8 engage the inner races l9 and 20 of the antifrictional bearings 21 and 22 which rotatably support one end of therotary driving gear or pulley member 23 and the rotary driven shaft sleeve 24 respectively.

25 represents a bearing anchor sleeve on the shaft M which is held from longitudinal movement by means of the set screw 26. The ends of the anchor sleeve abut the inner races 21 and 28 of the anti-frictional bearings 29 and 3!] which support the other end of the pulley 23 and the sleeve 24. Thus the relative position of the pulley 23 and the sleeve 24 on the shaft I4 is fixed by the anchor sleeve 25 and the bearing sleeves Ill.

The driven sleeve 24 is provided with the internal ribs 24 arranged longitudinally thereof for reinforcement of the sleeve.

[4 represents a shaft journaled The pulley 23 has secured thereto the cylindrical drum 3i provided with a smooth perimetral friction surface which is encircled by the half clutch bands 32 and 33.

' One end of the clutch bands is provided with the strap 34 having a transverse cylindrical sleeve arranged to be pivotally mounted on the pin 35 extending from the face of the crank disc 36 on the inner end of the shaft 31 which is rotatably mounted in the conical or reverse friction drum member 58. The other end of the clutch band is provided with a pierced lug 39 arranged to receive the threaded portion of the bolt 49 which is adjustably secured thereto as by the nuts and lock nuts 4i. The bolt 40 is also provided with a transverse cylindrical sleeve arranged to be pivotally mounted on the pin 42 extending from the face of the crank disc 36 on the inner end of the shaft 31. The outer ends of the pins 35 and 42 are held in place by the cap disc 36.

The shafts 3! are parallel to each other and symmetrically disposed on either side of the axis of the drum 38 and parallel to the latter. The center of the pins 35 and 42 are eccentric to the axis of the shafts 31 as shown in Fig. 5 and when the shafts 31 are rotated the pins move the straps 34 and the bolts 40 clamping or releasing the bands in frictional engagement with thecylindrical drum 3|.

If the shafts Sll are rotated so as to "clamp the bands onto the drum 3! the rotary pulley 23 then drives the conical drum 38 in the same di rection, through theclutch band mechanism and the shafts 3i. V

The conical drum 38 is keyed to the shaft sleeve 24 by the key 43 which is locked in place i by the set screw 44. The driven gear or pulley member 45 is also keyed to the sleeve 24 by the key 46 which is locked in place by the set screws 4?. Thus any rotary movement imparted to the conical drum 38 drives the driven pulley 45 through the medium of the shaft sleeve 24.

48 represents a clutch operating sleeve splined' as at 49 on the shaft sleeve 24 to permit longitudinal motion of the clutch sleeve thereon. The sleeve'48 is provided with a pair of sockets 50 to receive the ball joints 5| on one end of the connecting links 52. The ball joints 53 on the other end of the connecting links 52 are arranged 'to be secured in their complementary sockets 54 in the lever arms 55, secured to the outer ends of the shafts 3i. The clutch operating sleeve 48 is provided with the integral annular key 56 arranged to rotate in the annular grove of the stationary partible collar 5i. This collar is provided with two outwardly extending and oppositely disposed cars 58 arranged to extend into 7 the slots 59 in the ends of the bifurcated lever ti which is pivotally supported in the stand 6| secured to the frame it as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Thus when the lever 60 is moved in a counterclockwise direction it carries with it the collar which in tLun slides the rotating clutch sleeve 68 to the left and longitudinally of the shaft sleeve 24. The links 52 then rotate the jlevers 5'5 and the shafts 3? in a counterclockwise direction in Fig. 5 causing the pins 35 and 42 to pull the clutch bands into frictional engagement with the cylindrical drum 3i thereby'rotating the shaft sleeve 24 and the driven pulley 45 therewith.

69 in a clockwise direction in Fig. 1 will disengage the clutch bands from the drum 3|.

As herein illustrated the reverse drive of the mechanism is attained by the use of the frustroconical rollers 62 which in this case performs the dual function of a clutch and a gear element for reversing'the mechanism. 63 representsa fru tro--conical face on one side of the driving pulley 23 adjacent the periphery thereof which is, in this instance, provided with the frictional lagging material 64 arranged to engage the conical surface of the rollers 62. The rollers 82 may be composed of laminated material to insure long and uniform wearing qualities well known in the friction" pulley art. 55 represents the conical surface of the drum 33 which is also arranged to be engaged by the rollers 62. Thus the r0- tary driving pulley 23 may be made to drive the drum 38 and the driven pulley 45 on the shaft sleeve 24 in the reverse direction when the frustro-conical rollers are moved into engagement with the conical frictional surfaces on the pulley 23 and the drum 38.

The rollers @2 are rotatably supported by the I inner face of the rollers 62 to prevent dirt and other foreign matter fro-m entering therein.

From the shoulders H to the shoulders 12 the spindles are cylindrical and from the shoulders E2 the outer ends of the spindles. are square in cross section as shown in Fig. 1 at 13. square end portion of each spindle is slidably supported in the upwardly open squared bearing slot 14 in the bearing box 15 carried by the upright stand It whose lowerends are secured to the base frame It). The bearing slot 14 is arranged to be closed at the top bythe' plate 1'! bolted to the bearing box. The slot 14 is wider than the squared portion '93 of the spindle, permitting it to move transversely therein.

18 represents helical springs carried within suitable openings 19 in the vertical face, of the squared portion 13 of the spindle, that is remote from the driving pulley 23. The ends of the springs are provided with the mushroom headed pins 85 whose outer faces bearagainst the vertical Wall 8| of the slot 14. The pressure of the springs acts on the pins to move the spindle 6! away from the vertical wall 8|. The transverse movement of the spindle 61 is limited by the plates 82 on the ends of the adjusting bolts 83 which pass through tapped holes in .the wall 83 The of the bearing housing 15. Thus when thespinv dle 6'! is moved inwardly to engage the roller 62 with the conical friction surfaces, the rollerof the rotary pulley 23 and is thereby rotated. Further inward movement of the spindle 6'! forces the rotating roller 62 up the conical surface 64 moving the axis of the spindle transversely of the bearing and compressing the springs '33 until the roller engages the conical friction surface 65 on the drum 38 thereby driving the shaft-sleeve 24 and the driven pulley 45 in the reverse direction as long as the rollers are thus held in engagement with their complementary frictional surfaces. When'the rollers 62 are in their full meshed position and conical friction surfaces extend to form a complete cone they would meet at an apex on the axis of the shaft M which precludes any possibility of sliding friction between the faces of the contacting elements.

The spindles 67 are moved longitudinally of their axis by means of the vertical levers 84 pivotally supported at 85 on the stands 16. The upper ends 86 of the levers 84 are bifurcated to fit around the spools 8! adjustably secured to the ends of the squared portion E3 of the spindles. The lower ends of the levers 84 are pivotally attached to the adjustable connecting rods 83 which extend through the guides 39 and are pivotally attached at their other ends to the bell cranks 9i! pivoted to a bracketon the cross member of the base it as shown in Fig. 4. The other ends of the bell cranks are connected by the short links 9| to the cross pin 92 which is supported by the lower bifurcated end 53 of the forward clutch lever 60. The trifurcated head 94 on the end of the, link 55 is provided with alined holes to receive the pin {it and is arranged so that its center fork is between the bifurcated ends of the lever 59. The links 9! are outwardly adjacent thereto and the outer forks of the head 9 are on the ends of the pin as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

The other end of the link 95 is pivotally attached to the bell crank 96 pivoted at 97 on the frame it and having its other end connected by the rod 98 to the hand operating lever 99.

When the lever 99 is moved to the left, as in Fig. 2, the forward clutch lever 6t will be operated in a clockwise direction disconnecting the forward clutch drive and at the same time the bell crank 9i! will be operated in a counterclockwise direction in Fig. 4, thereby rocking the reverse lever 84 to move the rollers 62 into engagement with their complementary faces to operate the driven pulley 15 in the reverse direction. When the hand operating lever is in its neutral position the linkage system is arranged to permit the driving pulley 23 to rotate alone.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and. 3, It!!! represents a brake drum secured to the shaft sleeve it by the key Edi. The perimetral surface of the brake drum is grooved to receive the brake band Hi2 supported from below on the pin hinge m3 secured in th bracket i8 5 bolted to the cross member E515 of the bearing stand ii. The brake is operated by the ordinary brake rod 186 and cammed lever it? arranged, when pulled to the right in Fig. 2, to shorten the bolt N38 to draw the ends we of the band together, gripping the drum to slacken the speed or stop the rotation of the driving pulley 35.

Referring to the modification shown in Fig. 6, wherein the elements similar to those described above are designated by the same reference numbers, 5 it represents the reversing mechanism supporting shaft which, unlike the former instance, is rotatably supported in the bearing housings 2. The right hand end of the shaft Hi extends through the bearing housing i2 and has secured thereto the universal joint ii! that connects the shaft directly to the hub H2 arranged to hold a fiy-wheel on the shaft H3. In place of the driving pulley 23 the shaft Hi3 has keyed thereto, as at did, the forward and reverse friction drum member l 55 having the conical friction surface 53 arranged to engage the roller 62 for reversing the mechanism. This pulley also carries the cylindrical clutch drum 3i arranged directly to drive the pulley 45 in the forward direction as before.

Owing to the fact that the shaft H is designed to rotate, antifrictional roller bearings cannot be used as they would be stationary relative to the rotating shaft and shaft sleeve 2 3 and their line contact would peen into the races ultimately causing their destruction. It is therefore necessary to use the sleeve type of bearing M6 for rotatably supporting the drive shaft sleeve 24 to avoid this difficulty.

- The modification shown in Fig. 7 illustrates the use of a stationary or dead shaft I if in combination with a rotary power shaft lit for the reversing mechanism. In this instance the rotarypower shaft M8 may be directly connected to or be a part of the shaft of the power mechanism. This shaft extends through the bearing housing l2 and has keyed thereto at H9 the fiywheel 52d. The face of the hub portion 52!, remote of the bearing housing i2, is provided with the annular toothed key portion arranged to mesh with the complementary toothed key portion I22 on the adjacent face of the forward and reverse friction drum member I23.

The drum I23 is rotatably supported by the antifriction roller hearing if; and the antifriction ball bearing H25 which are carried by the dead shaft Hi and the rotary power shaft lit respectively. Thus the free end of the dead shaft H7 is journaled in the drum 523 which is coaxial with the shaft fill and is universally coupled to the fly-wheel lft and the shaft M3 and any slight variation in alinement of the dead shaft ii! is thereby compensated for.

The adjacent ends of the shafts i H and H3 are provided with the bearing retained caps H25 which may be bolted or fastened thereto in any suitable manner.

The forward friction drum portion of the drum 523 is provided with the spoke or webs 827 which serve to strengthen the drum $23 to permit it to carry the journaling load of the dead shaft iii.

The forward and reverse driving mechanism in this modification and the operation thereof is the same as that described for Figs. 1 to 5 and will therefore not be repeated.

While this invention has been illustrated and described particularly in reference to a countershaft reversing mechanism for use with well drilling and pumping apparatus, it should be understood that changes may be in the form disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention and that certain features: may sometimes be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

We claim:--

1. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the combination of a power-rotated shaft, a stationary shaft alined therewith, a member rotatably mounted on the adjacent ends of said shafts, means to connect said member for rotation with the first shaft, a pulley rotatable on the stationary shaft, and selective means for connecting said pulley to said member for rotating said pulley in either direction.

2. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the comination of a power-rotated shaft, a stationary shaft alined therewith, a member rotatably mounted on the adjacent ends of said shafts, means to connect said member for rotation with the first shaft, a pulley rotatable on the stationary shaft, and selective means for connecting said member to said pulley for rotating the pulley in either direction, and ball bearings interposed between the member and one shaft and of the first member as they are moved axially to engage said members.

.4. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the combination of a rotary member arranged to receive power from a suitable source and provided with a concentric conical surface, a second member coaxial therewith and also provided with a concentric conical surface, conical rollers arranged to be moved axially into engagement with said conical surfaces to impart rotation to the second member, and means whereby said rollers first engage the first member.

5. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the combination of a rotary member arranged to receive power from a suitable source and provided with a concentric conical surface, a second member coaxial with the first member and also provided with a concentric conical surface, and rollers movable axially to engage said surfaces for rotating the second member from the first member, and means for moving the rollers laterally to first engage the surface of the first member.

6. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the combination of a rotary member arranged to receive power from a suitable source and provided with a concentric conical surface, a second member coaxial with the first member and also p ovided with a conical surface, conical rollers arranged to be moved axially into engagement with said conical surfaces to impart rotation from the first member to the second member, and means for moving said rollers laterally to cause them to first engage the conical surface of the first member.

7. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the combination of a stationary shaft, a driving member and a driven member both rotatably mounted on said shaft and held against axial movement, a pair of annular driving surfaces on one side of the driving member, a co-ntractible band on the ment with the driving member and means for contracting said band and for moving said rollers axially.

8. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the com- When the contractible band is out of engagebination of a stationary shaft, a. driving member and a driven member'both rotatably mounted on said shaft and held against axial movement, a

pair of annular drivingsurfaces on one side of the driving member, a contractible band on the driven member arranged to engage one of the driving surfaces of the driving member for imparting the same rotational movement to the driven member, an annular driven surface on the driven member corresponding to the other driving surface of the driving member, said driving and driven surfaces being held against axial movement rollers arranged for axial movement to engage said last mentioned surfaces for imparting reverse rotation to the driven member, and means for operating said band and said rollers, said means being controlled from a common source preventing their simultaneous operation.

:9. In a rotary reversing mechanism, the combination of a stationary shaft, a driving member rotatable thereon and held against axial movement, said driving member having on its face a conical driving surface and a cylindrical driving surface concentric therewith, a driven pulley rotatable on said shaft adjacent to said face of the driving member and held against axial movement, said driven pulley provided with a conical surface opposed to the conical driving surface of the driving member and also provided with clutch means arranged to engage said cylindrical driving surface Whereby'to rotate the driven pulley in unison with the driving member said driving and driven surfaces being held against axial movement and means arranged to be interposed between said conical surfaces whereby to rotate the driven pulley in the opposite direction.

JQI-IN B. PICARD.

BRUNO R. SCHABARUM.

GEORGE F. NOLTEIN. 

